UWM Student Protesters Face Continued Punishment

UW-Milwaukee student protesters plant the flags of Palestine and Lebanon on a campus bridge on Maryland Ave. on October 17, 2024. Photo by Caleb Rose.

Student protesters for Palestine at UW-Milwaukee have continued to feel harassed by the university, they say. Since their protests began last spring, they have been forced to write reflection papers as punishment, repeatedly investigated, and threatened with a attempt to suspend an activist social media account, the students say.

Waleed Nassar, an officer for the student organization Students for Justice in Palestine said he and other protesters have been recommended for disciplinary probation. As a part of this, student protesters have been forced to write two-to-three page papers reflecting on what they have learned “and how freedom of speech should be conducted on campus,” Nassar noted.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a part of a coalition that conducted various protests throughout the past year, including the on-campus encampment in early May of 2024.

“The feeling of pressure is definitely there. You can tell they’re trying to persuade some of our organizations or some of our individuals to act a certain way,” Nassar said.

The punishment for Nassar and other student protestors has included the reflection papers, which he called, “really demeaning.” After consulting with his attorney, Nassar believes this falls under the compelled speech doctrine, which says no official can, “force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”

University spokesperson Angelica Duria responded saying this is listed under UWS 17.085 which includes a written reprimand or “Educational or service sanctions, including community service,” among other punishments.

These sanctions can be imposed if the Dean of Students’ office finds the student engaged in nonacademic misconduct. Duria said the punishments are determined by the severity of the misconduct and student conduct history.

Dr. Tim Shiell, a UW-Stout professor on the philosophy of law told Urban Milwaukee the UWM policy is not at odds with the compelled speech doctrine, comparing the possibility of compelled speech to “public university faculty compelling students to complete written or verbal assignments on topics the instructor chooses.” He added that the doctrine was written to prevent forced agreement to the government’s approved political or religious views.

He added, however, that the reflection paper would be an issue if it requires students to personally agree with current law and policy.

Nassar said he’s in the appeal process right now.

SJP member Thomas Cavanaugh said he’s also felt pressured by the university. Cavanaugh protested at a closed-door student event for former Vice President Kamala Harris in October asking her about the conflict, calling it a “genocide.” He said he initially left willingly after being asked to, but was soon forcibly carried down the stairs and out of the building.

“I was invited to a meeting on my public campus, by a public official, right? Who was also here to get my vote, that’s why she was here, and I posed a provocative question,” Cavanaugh said. “If you can’t do that as a student on your public campus, what right to free speech do you have?”

UWM Police cited Cavanaugh for disorderly conduct, but the charges were recently dropped by Milwaukee County for his completion of 20 hours of community service. He now faces separate charges from UW-Milwaukee for the same thing, cited for disorderly conduct under UW System conduct policy.

After the university’s investigation, disciplinary probation was recommended. He has appealed the ruling, but his appeal hearing is currently without a date.

The undergraduate pre-law student was set to graduate this spring, but the charges may threaten his ability to graduate. He said there is a possibility the ruling will prevent his enrollment in a constitutional law class, which he needs to graduate.

UWS 17.085 outlines “removal from a course in progress” and “enrollment restrictions on a course or program” as possible sanctions for nonacademic misconduct. However, the university said it is unable to comment on his particular case further because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA, which prevents unauthorized exposure of certain academic records by universities.

Nassar said eight students he knows of are currently facing misconduct investigations. Students said they’ve felt targeted by the investigations, disciplinary action on students and statements from the university.

“I do believe they’ve been targeting Palestinian and Muslim students over pro-Zionism students,” Cavanaugh added.

Nassar brought up a specific case against SJP, which is intended to hold accountable the actions of the “uwm4palicoalition” Instagram account. The account has been the cause of university investigations for “targeting [the] Jewish campus community.”

He said in the investigation, the university is attempting to hold SJP accountable for various posts on the account. He said neither he nor SJP has any control of the account.

The university is also accusing the Instagram account of unauthorized use of the name, brand and identity of the university. The policy states, “A name or identification that refers to UWM as a whole may be used to identify an activity only with the approval of representatives of the University as a whole.”

The account responded by saying UWM stands for “United With Milwaukee.” They said they claim no affiliation to the university.

In response to questions about this from Urban Milwaukee, Duria said UWM is unable to comment on this or other specific investigations.